Author's note: I'm REALLY sorry for the long delay and how short this chapter is. I've been really distracted and this was all I could muster because I've been having writer's block. Sorry.

Chapter XIV

Tyler stooped down, fingering one of the alien skulls in the trophy room gently. "I have to say," he said to Walker, "Now I don't think you're crazy."

Walker chuckled heartily, "I guess being inside an alien spacecraft can change anyone's mind."

"What are you going to do with this thing?" asked Dr. James Larry as he looked about the room in awe.

"I hope to be able to get it to one of my overseas laboratories without having any 'interruptions' from the government," the tycoon replied.

"So we'd need to keep 'hush hush', huh?" asked May Peterson.

"If you wouldn't mind. As terrible as it may sound, I have ways of keeping people quiet."

And suddenly, as if to interrupt his subtle threat, a scream pierced into the ship through the hatch to the outside as a bright blue flash accompanied it. It was a man's scream, as if he had ran into sudden agony. May quivered with fear.

"It's here," Walker said calmly. He reached down to the back of his leg where a pistol was concealed in an ankle holster.

Tyler suddenly realized he had not picked up any of his weapons when they got out of the truck.

Walker suddenly smiled maniacally, "Looks like I'll get a body too."

Tyler suddenly feared for his life after seeing the sudden expression on Walker's face.

Rain began to patter down outside as a huge crack of thunder resonated throughout the alien trophy room.

"I'll distract it while you three go to the truck and get the gun," Walker told the others. "We'll corner it like a pride of lions and take it down."

Tyler didn't like the idea one bit. He looked nervously towards May and Larry, who seemed to return his sentiments.

Walker walked slowly towards the hatch and motioned for the others to follow him, which they did, albeit cautiously and fearful. Water was cascading down in front of them on the hatch as the rain became harder. 

Suddenly, Walker fired a shot out of the hatch into the trees outside. "You want me?" he asked the raining emptiness.

Then, as if in answer, a strangely ornate spear impacted the hull just next to the hatch. Rain ran across the spear, which had fallen to the ground on impact.

Tyler, Larry and May all jumped in surprise, but Walker kept on going. "Get ready to make for the truck," he said. Then, in a short burst of speed, he went into the thundering abyss outside. "RUN!" he yelled to the others.

As if they were soldiers obeying a general, the three bolted outside and through the clearing where the ship was. Suddenly, a blue flash lit of the area as if it were lightning and hit the ground near their feet, causing a spray of sparks that were quickly extinguished in the heavy rain.

May screamed and stumbled, but Larry caught her arms and pulled her along.

Walker yelled into the trees with fury. "Come for me! I have the weapon! Scan for yourself!"

*  *  *

"Come for me!" were the words the Yautja really heard. Any hunter, no matter what language he spoke, would recognize the tone of a challenge. He quickly set his sights on the challenger. It was a Pyode Amedha that was waving about one of their primitive combustion-driven projectile hand weapons. But he was fair game, the creature was armed and not a pup. But he was letting his true trophy: the law-enforcement biped, get away.

This was acceptable however. He would track his prize and lure it to where he wanted… A place in their settlement he had already chosen.

*  *  *

Terrance Bartholomew Walker was never a very religious man, but as he watched Joseph Tyler, Dr. James Larry and Dr. May Peterson run away as he stayed to confront the thing he had been seeking for the last part of his life, he found himself reciting the Shepard's Prayer.

His body quaked with fear and the cold wetness of the rain that was battering his skin. He could barely see, but he still kept an eye out for any movement around him. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed, but as if he was in a trance, he did not notice the forces of nature about him.

He hoped that the other three would escape and manage to get to safety at the least. This vain attempt would at least save their lives.

Walker, a man who had spent millions on tracking down an alien life form, was fully aware that he was most likely about to be killed by one. He suddenly found himself regretting the things he had done in life. Brutally interrogating witnesses, having those who threatened to reveal any of his illegal activities "kept quiet", and the complete neglect of those he loved. He realized how terrible a person he had become in his quest to prove that these alien hunters existed.

But those thoughts ended as soon as they began, because suddenly, a piercing pain ripped through his back as two blades cut into around his spinal cord.

He looked up as he fell to his knees. The very last thing Terrance Bartholomew Walker would see was a seven-foot-tall bipedal creature; that wore a mask with glowing green eyes.

*  *  *

Tyler started up his truck knowing that Walker had given his life for them, for in his mind he knew no one could survive against that thing.